NEW YORK — The virtual president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, threatened on Monday to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office, as part of his plans to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first decrees.
If implemented, the tariffs could dramatically raise the prices of everything in the United States, from gasoline and cars to farm products. The United States is the world’s largest importer of goods, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent US census data.
Trump made the threats in a series of posts on his social media platform Truth Social, where he complained about the arrival of unauthorized migrants, although crossings at the southern border have remained near their lowest level in the past four years.
“On January 20, as one of my many first decrees, I will sign all the necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all products entering the United States, and its ridiculous open borders,” he wrote, complaining that “thousands of people are crossing through Mexico and Canada, bringing crime and drugs to levels never seen before,” although violent crime has decreased from the highs recorded during the pandemic.
He said the new tariffs would remain in effect “until we stop this invasion of drugs, particularly fentanyl, and all illegal aliens into our country.”
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily resolve this long-simmering problem. “We hereby demand that you use this power,” he added, “and until you do, it is time for you to pay a very high price.”
Trump also took a swipe at China, saying he has “had many conversations with China about the huge quantities of drugs, particularly fentanyl, being shipped to the United States, but to no avail.”
“Until they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% tariff, on top of any additional tariffs, on all of their many products entering the United States of America,” he wrote.
The Chinese embassy in Washington warned Monday that there will be losers everywhere if there is a trade war.
“Economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States is mutually beneficial in nature,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu posted on the X social network. “No one will win a trade war or a war” of tariffs. He added that China has taken steps in the past year to help stop drug trafficking.
It is unclear whether Trump will actually carry out the threats or if he is using them as a negotiating tactic before taking office in the new year.
Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent — who, if confirmed, would be one of several officials responsible for imposing tariffs on other countries — has said on several occasions that tariffs are a means of negotiation.
He wrote in an op-ed on Fox News last week, before his nomination, that tariffs are “a useful tool in achieving the president’s foreign policy goals. Whether it’s getting allies to spend more on their own defense, opening foreign markets to American exports, ensuring cooperation in ending illegal immigration and interdicting fentanyl trafficking, or deterring military aggression, tariffs can play a role. central”.
Trump won the election largely because of voter frustration over inflation, but the tariffs he threatens to impose could further raise the prices of food, cars and other goods. If inflationary pressures increase, the Federal Reserve may need to keep its benchmark interest rates elevated.
Trump’s threats come as arrests for illegally crossing the southern border have been declining. Figures for October show arrests remain near their lowest level in four years. The Border Patrol reported 56,530 arrests in October, less than a third of last year’s October total.
Meanwhile, arrests for illegally crossing the border from Canada have been increasing for the past two years. The Border Patrol made 23,721 arrests between October 2023 and September 2024, compared to 10,021 in the previous 12 months. More than 14,000 of those arrested at the Canadian border were Indians, more than 10 times the number two years ago.
Last week, a jury found two men guilty on human trafficking-related charges for their role in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border. during a snowstorm in 2022.
Much of the fentanyl in the United States is smuggled from Mexico. Border seizures of the drug increased markedly under President Joe Biden, with US officials tallying approximately 12,247 kilograms (21,900 pounds) of fentanyl seized in fiscal year 2024, compared to 1,154 kilograms (2,545 pounds) in 2019, when Trump He was president.
If Trump followed through with the tariff threat, the new taxes would pose a huge challenge to the economies of Canada and Mexico, in particular.
The Canadian dollar weakened in currency markets immediately after Trump’s release.
During Trump’s first term, his decision to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and reports that he was considering a 25% tariff on the Canadian auto sector were considered an existential threat in Canada. Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 75% of Canada’s exports, which include cars, go to the United States.
The tariffs would also call into question the reliability of the 2020 trade deal largely negotiated by Trump, the USMCA, which replaced NAFTA and is scheduled for review in 2026.
It’s unclear how Trump would legally apply tariff increases to those two key U.S. trading partners, but the 2020 deal allows for national security exceptions.
Officials on Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to questions about what authority he would use, what he would need to see to prevent the tariffs from being implemented and how they would affect prices in the United States.
When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term, other countries responded with their own tariffs. Canada, for example, announced billions of dollars in new tariffs in 2018 in response to US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Many of the American products were chosen for their political rather than economic impact. For example, Canada imports just $3 million worth of yogurt from the United States annually, and most of it comes from a plant in Wisconsin, the home state of then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican. That product was taxed with a 10% tariff.
The Canadian government, in a joint statement from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc, emphasized the close relationship between the two countries and said they will discuss the border and vast economic ties with the incoming administration.
“Canada places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border. “Our relationship today is balanced and mutually beneficial, especially for American workers,” the statement read.
Freeland, who chairs a special cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations to address concerns about another Trump presidency, has said the president-elect’s promise to launch a massive deportation operation and the potential for that to lead to an influx of migrants to Canada is one of the main points to be analyzed by the committee.
A senior Canadian official had said before Trump’s posts that Canadian officials expect Trump to issue decrees on trade and the border as soon as he takes office. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Mexican Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy have not commented so far on Trump’s statements. Normally, such important issues are handled by the president in her morning press conferences.
Last week, a top Chinese trade official said higher tariffs on Chinese exports would be counterproductive by raising prices for American consumers. Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen also said China can handle the impact of such “external shocks.”
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Giles reported from Toronto. Associated Press journalists Adriana Gómez Licón in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Robert Gillies in Toronto; Mark Stevenson in Mexico City; and Fatima Hussein and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.